Seth laid in his bed, unable to sleep even after the harrowing last hour. After he had arrived back at the apartment, Seth had chilled out and had dinner with Sydney and Will while they went on about their spectacular days.
Apparently, the two had already registered with the Chrome, even having their ID marks to prove it.
The mark was quite uninteresting to be honest, just a simple circle crossed through the middle with a square. It kind of looked like the beginnings of a ritual circle right on their forearms. After confessing he hadn’t registered yet, the two continued to berate him for his stupidity for the next couple minutes until they all agree to head to sleep. A new day of exploring was already plenty of an energy drainer, plus all three of them had gotten a number of items from the city that they needed to consume before they went to sleep.
One of such items was actually Perceive, turns out, every shop handed them out for free after one purchase.
I take back my compliment.
Seth grumbled in his head as he imagined Lyrica’s supermodel-like figure laughing at him while she counted the tip he gave her.
The aftermath of the mass consumption was shown now in Seth’s heavily breathing and sweaty figure. In all honesty, he had no idea the number or substance of all the items he had just consumed in the last hour. All he knew was that the information orbs gave him splitting headaches, and there were a lot of them. He saved the general ability items she had given him until the end of the orbs, thinking that they would be better.
They were not.
Each ability item including Perceive had caused Seth to feel like someone was literally carving things into his bones. Luckily there were only four of them so he only had to face excruciating torture for a short time.
“Lucky me,” he muttered after finally finishing them all up.
Next was to see what all he had exactly changed with the slew of items. Opening up the menu, he first went to Notifications and read through all the newest banners.
-Congratulations! You have consumed a Record Cache (Information Cluster 236).
-Congratulations! You have consumed a Record Cache (Information Cluster 425).
…
-Congratulations! You have consumed a Record Cache (Information Cluster 1048).
-Congratulations! You have received the “Location” extension of your ability: Nurture. Nurture ability: Menu. Corresponding ability… Map! New tab (Map) has been integrated.
-Congratulations! You have received the “Detail” extension of your ability: Menu. All tabs have been updated…
- Congratulations! You have received the “Grade” extension of your ability: Menu. All tabs have been updated…
- Congratulations! You have received the “Progress” extension of your ability: Menu. All tabs have been updated…
-Congratulations! You have received the ability: Perceive!
Perceive:
-Open your eyes to the universe.
Seth was pleasantly surprised at the new updates to his menu. Map was now one of the bottom tabs, and when selected, pulled up a grid with some preloaded locations due to his consumption of some map records. Satisfied, Seth went over and began going through every tab to see what had changed with the integration of the last three extensions he consumed.
He was excited to discover that now his Index tab was not only full of countless new entries, but each was filtered and had extensive information on most of the entries. He then skipped past the Quests tab because he knew there was nothing new and turned over to his Status.
Level: Tier Two (Progress: Early)
Intellect: Class D
Constitution: Class C
Might: Class C
Intuition: Class D
Resolve: Class B
Race: Fiend (Class D)
Titles: Little David
Along with the new progress display next to his level, his body diagram now had status details next to each extremity, hopefully showing how dire his injuries are after a battle so he can fix them accordingly. There was still an “Undecided” description under his hair and eye, as well as a blank next to his hand. A new entry was also after his race, which was odd because he was under the impression that classes only had to do with abilities and items.
Shrugging off his annoyance at the still messed up diagram and the unknown of his Class D race, he moved on to the Abilities tab.
Racial Abilities:
-Specter State (Pre-Set)
-Wicked Being (Pre-Set)
-Nightmare Adrenaline (Pre-Set)
Aligned Abilities:
-Presence of Doom
-Eye of Opposition
-Insanity Eternal
-Undecided
Branch Abilities:
(Presence of Doom)- Anar; Anima Thief;
(Eye of Opposition)- True Sight;
(Insanity Eternal)- Fear Itself;
Acquired Abilities:
-Nurture (Menu)
-Plunder
Upgradable Abilities:
-Identify (Class C)
-Cache (Class D)
“Not a bad set of skills I’ve got going.” He mumbled after closing the menu.
The separation of abilities was a nice add-on to his menu as well. During his talk with Grayson, Seth had found out what the significance of these groupings were. According to him, aligned abilities were the main fields a person built their ability set off of. There was no real limit on how many abilities you could gain from these four aligned ones, but apparently the more you gain, the harder it is to get more. You could buy branch abilities, but after a certain point, (Grayson said after around three or four for each aligned one), the Foundation would stop you from attaining anymore.
The seasoned man told Seth that it was important to get all four aligned abilities filled up before he reached the end of tier four, or else his skillset will be lopsided because his rapid growth would only apply to the ones he already had. The thing was, he stressed to Seth that it was incredibly important to not rush to fill up these slots, because they were yours for as long as you live, no takebacks.
“As if you had to tell me that you old codger.”
All in all, Seth was really satisfied with how the day had gone.
Although there was a substantial problem he still needed to solve.
How am I going to get stronger?
He knew that there were training grounds and tournaments around, but in the end, they weren’t going to do him much good. Training grounds were just the standard way to get better, there was no urgency, no hunger in the pursuit of strength. Not to mention tournaments at his tier probably only consisted of small children, if any tournaments of that low a level were open at all. Not to mention, Seth doubted he could even beat them.
He had no technique, an uncompleted set of abilities, and no experience fighting other intelligent beings. Everything he had fought so far was just a bunch of wild monsters that he had to get beaten by multiple times before he was able to learn how to fight them. He even had the scars to prove it, although almost all of them had faded to nothing by now due to his tier up.
It seemed that by becoming more like Lic and Null, he wasn’t allowed to have such impurities.
It was a shame though, in Seth’s eyes. He always thought scars were kind of cool, like Green Arrow.
Seth lazily rolled out of his bed and headed to the bathroom. As he looked in the mirror, he raised part of his shirt to reveal a long white gash he received from the first Xtrey Hound that stretched from his lower spine to just below his right shoulder. For some reason, it was the only scar to have remained after his tier up, well that and the growing vertical cut running down his bottom lip.
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Grayson sat back on the couch and closed his eyes. It had been about four hours since his new young friend had left, and he couldn’t stop his strategic old mind from wondering about the boy. His thoughts only lasted for a couple seconds before he felt the presence of his assistant. A low sigh escaped his lips as he cracked open an eye.
“What is it Byrus?”
The newly arrived younger man unconsciously scratched his blue horn, a hallmark of the despised race he and his boss shared. “It’s about the boy sir, why have you met him with such willing hospitality? You have met many subjects from Origin and never before have you seemed to take any interest in them.”
The seasoned owner leaned forward and turned his full gaze to his subordinate. It was true he never really cared about the other subjects he had met so far. In his couple centuries of life, he had come across rounds upon rounds of the lab rats, none ever peaking his interest. For some reason though, this boy seemed to draw him in. The only reason he had treated Seth in the first place was because of the weapon he watched the child summon.
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It was unlike anything he had seen before. It certainly looked interesting, but what really intrigued him was the aura that the thing radiated. It had the power of a tier three object, yet there was something even farther behind it that he couldn’t put a finger on. It was like a shadow that was following right behind the boy, just out of eyesight. After that, when he thoroughly smashed the weak anima of the child, it should have literally rendered him unconscious.
A tier two unformed anima was no match for the full might of a tier six like himself, but even with that insurmountable difference, Seth seemed like it wasn’t his first time. It felt like he was actually somewhat excited after being abused like that.
“It is the same as I told the boy, he is an investment. Something about him has peaked my curiosity, and I intend to see just how far he can go with a bit of inference from myself.” Grayson smirked.
As his boss closed his eyes once again, Byrus took his leave and went back to work. For someone to peak the boss’s curiosity was quite the feat. For the fifty years Byrus had worked for Grayson, he had never once seen his boss meddle with any lower tiered beings. He actually kind of felt bad for the boy, he had no idea what he was in for.
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Seth walked down the bustling street with an excited gleam in his eye. Not being able to sleep much, he had gotten up bright and early and headed to The Oasis. Both of his friends were still asleep after he decided to set out, so it looked like today was going to be another solo endeavor, but Seth didn’t mind.
On his way, he stopped by one of the cuisine blocks he passed through yesterday and got himself something that looked kind of like a donut, but tasted better than any desert he had eaten before. One thing about this new dimension that Seth had no quarrel with was the endless amounts of new foods, all more delicious than any Earth dishes.
The walk took him a couple hours, but he didn’t mind that either. Between the godly pastry and the infinite number of sights to see, there was plenty to occupy his attention with until he started to reach the outskirts of the city.
As he strolled along, Seth continued to play around with his new ability. Various items appeared and disappeared before him as he experimented the limits of it's potential. He was surprised to find out that the ability actually had quite strict limitations as far as he could tell. He was successfully able to create three clones of smoke before the blood mist no longer would leave his body.
As he tested further, he discovered that the number of items he created was not limited, but rather there was a certain amount of mist he could work with. So although he could only make three figures of himself, he could create almost thirty small daggers. The illusions he made also were dependent on how accurate Seth could imagine the creation.
For example, making anything that he had seen before was easy, but creating a new item was very difficult unless he clearly imagined it to the last minute detail. Luckily, if he was able to summon the item into being, then afterwards, summoning it concurrently was as easy as any other creation. After successfully creating an original small black needle, Seth breathed out a sigh of relief. It had actually taken him almost the whole trip just to make that little thing, so when as he finished, the RIP Sector arch was already within view.
Soon enough, he arrived at the bustling square where The Oasis was located. A light headache now plagued him because of his constant expenditure of dimensional energy, but Seth didn’t mind as he practically skipped to the entrance of the building.
Upon entering the grand building, Seth was instantly met by one of the employees he saw yesterday. The man greeted Seth and told him that his name was Gin.
As they spoke, Seth was delighted to find that the owner was already over at the outpost for The Chrome, so he thanked Gin and headed in the direction the man pointed out for him. Seth past numerous shops in the grand hall until he finally spotted a multihued altar that had the banner of the familiar circle and square surrounded by a brilliant Damascus pattern of gold and silver.
Upon seeing the altar, Seth sped up in earnest, eager to register and plan his next move. He almost threw open the gilded door of the outpost as he walked into a large office. It was almost the opposite of Grayson’s office, instead of plain, it was covered in all sorts of luxury looking items and art. The floor matched the banner outside in a beautiful mosaic of tiles, while the walls of the office were lined in all kinds of colored crystals, fixed in place by delicate looking chains. Both Grayson and what looked like a mound of green sludge turned toward him, looking startled. Seth paused at the entrance, realizing how disruptive he must have been.
“Sorry, I wasn’t paying attention for a moment,” he fibbed with burning ears.
What sounded like a snort came from the mound while Grayson just quirked an eyebrow before motioning Seth forward.
“It’s of no matter, come here and meet our representative from The Chrome: Mr. Alldean.”
Seth took the opportunity and quickly moved over to their spot at a striking marble desk.
“It is a pleasure to meet you sir,” he ventured with a small bow he remembered from one of Grayson’s assistants.
Mr. Alldean roiled for a second before settling back into what looked like a bathtub encrusted with various slivers of wood. Seth threw Grayson a questioning glance before a small silver symbol appeared above the mound like a halo.
“Nice to meet you, Seth. Grayson tells me that my form might seem a little unorthodox for you, so I apologize for any scare I might have caused,” a slightly monotone voice echoed from the symbol.
Seth almost recoiled in surprise before quickly correcting himself.
“Please, there is no need for an apology. I am sorry for my impolite reaction, I was just a little flustered by the symbol there.”
The mound roiled once more as the symbol began shining again.
“Ah, I see. This, my new friend, is just a result of one of my communication abilities. My race doesn’t leave much room for talking with other races, so I improvise. But enough of that, let us get into your registration,” the voice hummed.
Seth thought it might have sounded a bit excited, but it could have just been his imagination. Grayson gestured for him to stand opposite from Mr. Alldean in what looked like another small ritual circle, slightly different than the insignia of The Chrome. This one appeared to have a maze of different lines inside it, almost giving Seth a headache as he tried to follow them all. He simply couldn’t take his eyes away from the now waving lines until he abruptly lit up in an azure glow right under his feet. Grayson let out a small chuckle as the mound of Mr. Alldean looked like he was heaving around in his tub.
It took Seth a moment to realize that the living pile was actually laughing too. The circle above Mr. Alldean lit up yet again during the creature’s heaves.
“I know it might seem almost hypnotic for a newly leveled kid such as yourself, but please try to keep your eyes off the myth under you.”
Seth scrunched his eyebrows in confusion as a small flow of dimensional energy reached from the circle to spread over his body.
“Wha-what is a myth?” Seth inquired as the gentle flow of energy tickled his senses.
A soft grunt sounded off to his right as Grayson looked slightly regretful next to him.
“That was my mistake Seth, I failed to explain to you the basics under which we all shape.”
A moment later, a small grey tablet materialized in the older man’s gloved hands as a screen flashed to life in the air. It showed a humanoid figure surrounded by a silver cloud, dimensional energy, he assumed.
“Those of us with Foundations find ourselves at a state of higher living to where we can not only sense the existence of dimensional energy, but also ‘shape’ it as we like to call it. In reality, we are doing nothing more than changing the state of this energy, hence the name, to suit our whims and fuel our abilities.”
The figure held out its hand as a new golden symbol traced into existence at the tips of its fingers. It looked like another standard ritual circle before an intricate pattern of branching lines filled the circle, similar to the one below Seth. Had he just glance at the golden symbol, Seth wouldn’t have been able to see the difference between the two other than the color. But the longer he looked, the more obvious it was that the new symbol was completely different in the ways the lines formed with one another. Although the two had almost identical formations, the lines created an infinite canyon between them.
Soon enough, the silver cloud around the symbol began to change shape until they almost instantaneously formed a globe of golden liquid that shot out at a speed similar to a bullet. The symbol remained as more and more globes of liquid gold were shot out in succession.
“This is a myth. Think of it as a sort of blueprint that we need in order to shape any energy into something. They are used for almost every shaping mechanism or acquired ability. The only exception to this is one’s own aligned abilities, and some branch abilities, as well as our race abilities due to the fact that they are apart of our very being.”
Seth almost forgot about the myth he was standing in as he mulled over the new information.
“Wait, so is it possible to make your own myths? How would you even go about doing that? What are the myths made out of if not dimensional energy?”
Mr. Alldean rumbled and Grayson tossed a smirk in his direction.
“Told you he was a sharp one.”
Grayson promptly turned off the tablet and stashed it in an unknown pocket before turning back to Seth.
“Although not impossible, it is incredibly difficult to create an original myth. In truth, they are the language of our two grand creators. Although the Foundation might have existed before the two, they were the ones to breath life into the art of shaping. They were so successful that the Foundation itself acknowledged their creation and turned it into a core aspect of its operation. So although not impossible, one would have to possess an inane amount of power as well as a transcendent harmony with the Foundation and the origins of the grand creators to make their own myth,” the owner finished.
Sounds like even Umbras don’t have the power to make their own myths. Just how powerful were these ‘grand creators’?
Seth almost began to ask another question before the energy that flowed through him extracted itself and the myth under his feet lost its light. A new screen appeared before Mr. Alldean and the mound began sorting through it in a flash. A hum of disappointment echoed from the silver myth above the pile as he finished whatever he was doing.
“What is it?” Grayson observed while walking over to look at the screen.
The luster of the myth came back to life as the humming voice began to explain.
“Its nothing too important. Seth just seems to have a couple aligned abilities that haven’t been documented yet, not that uncommon but it did prove to be an annoyance to do all the new data entering for them. His Umbra brand isn’t very distinct either, probably due to a lack of power on the Umbra’s behalf. Seth, would you mind telling me the name of the Umbra that you came into contact with?”
Seth opened his mouth to answer before the restrained whispers in his mind exploded into an all-out roar of overlapping screams.
Lie.
The cold voice cut through the storm of whispers, creating a brief silence that Seth had not heard in months. Sweat began rolling down the back of his neck as he struggled to mask the change in demeanor under the scrutiny of the two men in front of him. His effort was in vain though as Grayson seemed to catch on to his discomfort.
“What is it child? Do you not want to tell us?”
Seth let out a forced laugh as he speedily came to a decision.
“No it's not that, I just feel a bit silly over the name I was given. My Umbra’s name is… Bastard.”
The pair on the other side of the desk didn’t seem to react the way Seth guessed they would. It was a truly terrible lie that Seth blurted out to spite the dark being that seemed to surface in his mind anytime it wanted to. Sadly he didn’t think it over enough before claiming right in front of two high tiered beings who could probably kill him without breaking a sweat.
A high pitched laugh echoed in the back of his mind until Grayson finally answered as he cast a pitiful look to Seth.
“Well, I can’t say I am surprised. I am sorry to say this Seth, but it is quite common for an Umbra to give a false name to a disciple it cares little for. Do not fret, although unfortunate, plenty of the newly tiered go on their own to burn a new path for themselves.”
Mr. Alldean seemed to agree as his myth spoke up.
“It is nothing to get worked up over, for now I will list you as a seeking individual. This way, if you find another Umbra that takes a liking to you, it will be possible to change over your contract. Hold out your forearm please.”
Seth followed his instruction and held up his left arm, a little confused as to what he was talking about. A foreign energy began coalescing on the hand, soon forming a familiar sigil of The Chrome.
“There you go my friend; you are now a full-fledged member of The Chrome. We have a few more bits of information we need to input though so hang tight,” Mr. Alldean hummed.
While screens flashed in front of the green mass, Seth spoke up to fill the silence.
“So what exactly did you mean by changing your contract?”
Grayson continued to itch his chin while watching the screen.
“If you strike the attention of another Umbra, it is possible for them to scrub your current brand, technically making you a free agent. Then, after the brand is gone, your new sponsor can then brand themselves on you, turning you into their disciple. To be more specific, it is not as simple as finding another Umbra, but also that Umbra needs to be interested in you enough to go through the tedious process of negotiating with your previous sponsor and getting them to release you.”
Now it was Seth’s turn to itch his chin.
“So if your original Umbra doesn’t want to give you up, can they just reject the new Umbra’s proposition and keep you like a prisoner!?”
Grayson finally flicked his gaze over to Seth for a moment before shaking his head.
“It might sound unfair, but all in all it is not up to lower beings like us who we belong to. Keep in mind that if you are the member of an Umbra’s clan, they took some amount of interest in you in the first place. It is not just some lottery where you end up in the hands of some random higher being. The universe can be cruel, but it is notoriously known for being fair when all the cards are down.”
Seth was about to say something else when Grayson walked over and spoke in a low voice beside him.
“Because of your particular situation, I am sorry to say this sentiment might not apply to you and your fellow subjects. This is why most of us find ire in the operations of Origin. The selection process is supposed to be sacred and memorable for as long as one lives. But sadly you all are exposed to a physical fragment left behind by a careless higher being. The effects of this can become something truly devastating. Most are overcome by the power of these fragments, but some are saved by the owner, turning them into a member of their clan. It is crude and a true taint upon what all Umbras are supposed to represent. Unfortunately, Origin is not only ignored by all of us shapers, but also by the rest of the higher beings.”
The new information really pissed Seth off, yet again reinforcing the idea in his mind that he needed to get stronger as fast as possible. His thoughts were soon interrupted as Mr. Alldean spoke up.
“Alright then, we have almost all the information needed, but I just need to know what career branch you are interested in being a member of. This isn’t a permanent choice or anything, we just need something to list so your credentials can be validated.”
Seth was about to ask what choices he had when Grayson beat him to the punch.
“Combat-Neutral.”
The sludge pile instantly began inputting the information before closing the screen. Seth looked at Grayson, slightly confused, before receiving a small shrug in return.
“It would have just been a waste of time. It’s not like it matters that much for now,” the old man claimed.
Seth wasn’t sure what he meant by that, but he agreed that it didn’t really matter that much because all he wanted to do was tier up.
“Alright then, now that that is all over, can I start using training grounds or take some jobs?” Seth inquired eagerly.
Grayson snorted next to him before gesturing around the room.
“Calm down there, Seth. You were just registered so you only have access to F classed combat jobs. Sorry to say, but in a city where the average citizen is a tier four, you probably wouldn’t even survive a job of the lowest level.”
Seth’s jaw was on the floor in response to Grayson’s claim.
I SERIOUSLY CAN’T EVEN TAKE AN F CLASS MISSION?!
“You must be joking right? How the hell am I supposed to do anything if I can’t even take the lowest leveled jobs?”
Mr. Alldean began shaking in his tub and even Grayson cracked a small smirk.
“Well my friend, if you play your cards right and do what I say, I could give you a good opportunity that lies outside of a posted job.”
Greed flashed in Seth’s eyes before he calmed himself down.
A special job from a tier six business man could mean some big risks… but also big rewards.
“Alright then boss, what can I do for you today,” he replied with a humorful grin.
Grayson nodded in satisfaction as he began to head to the door.
“I assign you the job of watching the final round of this year’s Daemon Contest with me.”